


Levi's Dream Delivery Service

by Aniki411



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drama, Dreams, M/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2019-01-25 18:25:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12538336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aniki411/pseuds/Aniki411
Summary: Levi has an unusual job.





	1. Chapter 1

 

He runs through a maze of concrete illuminated by occasional splashes of city neon and moving lights for what seems like ages. The loud stomping of boots recedes eventually, and when he feels he has put sufficient amount of distance between his pursuers and himself he rounds the corner and darts into a dark hallway, heart pounding. The wall behind his back is cool to the touch and covered in random graffiti, too dirty by his standards so he doesn’t want to lean in too much, but at least he can catch a breath while no one is shooting at him. If only he had one of those blasters instead of a sword he wouldn’t have to get so close to take any of them out and resort to so much running, but the sword was the only weapon he could get his hands on that actually worked. The blasters must have some sort of an authorization system, he wasn’t able to make them fire and almost got caught during an unsuccessful attempt to do so. He examines the sword in his hand, first time he’s been able to take a good look at it. The design seems rather old-fashioned compared to the rest of weapons he was able to witness droids, or whatever they are, use. For all he knows it could be humans under those metallic armor suits. Or aliens. Or ghosts. He still doesn’t know enough about this dream despite the amount of time he spent being chased around the gigantic high-rise he found himself in. He wonders how many stories above ground he has climbed. Must be fairly high, considering how much he has been on the move, most of it going up. He’s gonna have to find out soon – the sound of pounding of footsteps reemerges somewhere not far behind him and he has to move immediately. There’s an upside to all this running – he can cover a lot of ground in this dreamscape.

Arrows of blue light pierce the hallway and he finds himself being shot at again, didn’t take them that long to catch up. He ducks, dodges, darts to the side to make himself less of an easy target. There’s a door at the end of the passage and he only just needs to make it to it and hope it’s unlocked. It is. He slams the thing shut but there doesn’t seem to be a bolt or anything on the door to keep it locked. There are more footsteps coming from the floors below. He doesn’t have time to think. He finds himself back on the small staircase and runs up again. Six flights of stairs later he finally reaches a door that isn’t locked. His face is hit with a gust of wind as it swings open to reveal a monster sized roof - he was close to the top of the building after all.

The view from this up high is magnificent. The building must be at least a hundred stories but the ones surrounding it are no smaller. There is a cluster of them covered in neon signs, some things that look like mini spaceships sail around them and dock at different levels, life appears to be bustling at the buildings’ ports as far down as he can see before thick fog starts to obscure the lower part of the structures. Whatever is at the very bottom he can’t see at all. He doesn’t have much time to appreciate the intricacies of the design though. The door that he entered through appears to be the only one in sight.

It would have been nice to get closer to one of those droids and rip the helmet off to see what’s underneath, or see if he could figure out how to make the blaster work, in case there was a trick to it - would have definitely increased the dream sales potential, people love cheats, or get to one of those other buildings…

Too late now.

The droids pile on the roof like a swarm of ants. Levi takes one last look at the scene, sighs, and steps off the parapet.

He tries to stay conscious all the way to the bottom, but doesn’t succeed.

 

Levi jerks awake. Rays of the afternoon sun hit his eyes, making his vision blurry - it must have moved when he was asleep and he is no longer covered by the shade of a tree. He rubs his eyelids with one hand and pats the ground nearby in search of his bag with another. A few seconds later he finally finds what he’s looking for and retrieves a small notebook and pencil from it.

He scribbles down the details as fast as he can before the memory fades, blinking away an occasional white spot in his vision, puts in “house, action, futuristic” for category tags and “8” for intensity, pauses for a second, erases and writes in “8.5” instead – this one was a nonstop chase but he’s definitely seen worse. Too bad the design was too complex to attempt to draw a map.

He sighs, wraps the little cushion he was sitting on and packs it in his bag along with the journal. He really should have investigated if there was more to the dream. It was a mistake to keep running up when he had chances to head down, so he ended up spending his entire dive in the same building from the moment he entered to the very crashing end. It would have definitely been useful to know if there were ways to escape the high-rise or any alternate scenarios, not to mention his misadventures with the blaster - but this will have to do for now.  Perhaps he’ll come back to this spot if he has some extra time once he’s done exploring other places on the island. He zips his backpack, gets up, and turns his dream tracker on. Three seconds later he is rewarded with a sight of a dark green glob about a mile and a half to the east – looks like he can mostly continue on the trail he took all the way from the inn for one more dive before wrapping things up for the day.

He walks the dirt path deeper into the woods, green glob on his tracker screen slowly getting closer to the little pink arrow that is Levi. About half a mile away from the target area he has to veer off the trail and step onto the soft mossy ground loosely covered with leaves. It’s off season but still quite early into the fall. Most trees on the island don’t seem to actually change colors, but the ones that do already shed some orange that rustles softly under Levi’s feet. He takes his time getting to the dream area. The air is crisp and the walk feels nice and helps relax his muscles that are still clenching from the chase of the last dive. Something catches his attention.

_What the fuck!?_

Levi stops and squints - some two hundred feet ahead he can make out a shape of a person lying on the ground. Before he can even process his body takes off towards the collapsed figure, running at top speed, air burning in his lungs. He makes it there in seconds.

“Hey, are you okay?! Hey!” The figure – a guy from up close – doesn’t respond and appears to be completely motionless. “Hey!” Levi repeats again, more concerned, and moves around to take a look at the guy’s face, expecting the worst. The other still doesn’t stir despite the commotion.

To his surprise and some relief, once Levi is in front of the collapsed stranger he isn’t greeted with a purple face of a rotting corpse, but instead a rather attractive looking guy.

“Hey there,” Levi tries again and but no response comes. He has to check, just because the stranger doesn’t appear dead, doesn’t mean he isn’t. He kneels in front of the guy and sticks his hand out hovering close to the guy’s nose. Levi frowns. One thing is for sure – the guy _is_ breathing, quite steady too, not labored, not shallow, completely normal, in fact his breathing feels like he’s...  Levi narrows his eyes. _No way._ No fucking way the guy is just sleeping in here. Levi checks his tracker – just as he suspected - he is right in the middle of the dream area. Dammit. He has to resist an urge to growl and kick the guy in front of him. He nearly had a heart attack running here and the dude is just sleeping, totally oblivious, and not just anywhere but in the middle of Levi’s chosen dream spot. Levi does growl.

Still, something _is_ strange and Levi can’t quite ignore the fact that all of this looks a little too weird. The guy is sleeping in the middle of the woods in what looks like a terribly uncomfortable position, on the dirty ground without any pillow or blanket and more than anything - why on earth is he not waking up? Levi wonders if he should try shaking him or kicking him, if not to wake him but at least for Levi’s own satisfaction... He doesn’t though, just stares at the stranger’s unmoving, sleeping face for a few long moments. Strong jaw, blond eyelashes.

Maybe the dream is _that_ good. Levi considers. Going to “sleep” next to some stranger in the woods is too weird even if the stranger himself is completely passed out, but he has to keep on schedule if he wants to explore most of the spots this island has to offer. He made a plan for today and he is not gonna mess it up.

“Who the fuck just falls dead asleep in the middle of the fucking woods?” He mutters to himself and unzips his backpack. He tries to ‘hey’ the guy one last time but it yields the same result.

Levi sighs. Gonna have to go and find him in the dream after all. 

The dream area appears to be rather narrow and the distance he can put between himself and the stranger is three feet at most lest he miss the entrance altogether. He rolls out the small cushion, crosses his legs and closes his eyes, lets his shoulders relax.

_It’s supposed to drizzle later, should just leave him here to soak_ , Levi thinks as his body drifts into sleep.

 

A few minutes later he finds himself inside the dreamscape. From all the years of exploring dreams he has never found any logical connection between the dream design and its physical location, so really he shouldn’t be expecting any resemblance, but he is still surprised to find himself in the middle of a vast desert while his body is physically sleeping on a green island surrounded by the ocean. It’s a strange contrast to say the least. But the place is weirder than any desert he’s seen.

Despite what his instincts and expectations are telling him he should be feeling upon stepping into the desert he is not actually hit with a wave of blistering heat. He is not hit with anything at all. In fact, the place appears to be perfectly, motionlessly still. There’s no heat, no wind, so sun, no clouds in the sky. It’s bright, but there are no shadows around anything, rare faded brown rocks stick out from the ground and tower like some ancient statues, but there is no vegetation growing in the cracks between them, not a single shrub or cactus, none on the ground either, just sand and rocks all the way to the perfectly drawn line of the horizon as though the time itself has stopped here. It doesn’t seem real. Levi frowns, half expects for it to fall like a curtain and reveal something else behind the fake picture he’s presented with, but nothing happens and nothing moves. And he thought Dali paintings were creepy. He never shies away from dreams but this place feels like being inside a vacuum, too still… _dead_ somewhere in the back of his mind whispers as Levi takes a few cautious steps in the sand. He wants to be done soon. He’ll just find the sleeping stranger and give him a piece of his mind.

He walks for a while. The sand beneath his feet barely makes a scratching sound and the same maddening stillness follows him. It’s strange to be so directionless but there’s no telling where the sleeping guy might be, so it doesn’t really matter which way he walks, unless this dream is one of those endless designs that stretch for days and no amount of sleep is long enough to cover the size of it. He hopes he has better luck than that and keeps walking.

What feels like a considerable amount of time later there’s still no sign of the guy or anyone and a vague sense of anxiety starts to prickle on the surface of Levi’s skin. Too still, too quiet. Just sand and rocks. One can lose their mind here. Levi starts to consider bending the rules. He was trying to do it the dream’s way, but clearly that is not getting him very far, and he is beginning to get frustrated. Maybe he could try flying. That way he can cover more distance and it’s easier than folding the fabric of the entire dream to find the other’s whereabouts. Besides, rearranging the dream’s structure is a major cheat and he could be easily kicked out of it altogether. He knows all too well not all dreams like that and there’s no way of predicting what this one will do. He just hopes that flying itself is not too much of a stretch. He makes a few jumps to test the resistance, one higher than the other, none feel too bad. He snorts pleased and starts running to gain momentum - a few seconds later and he’s airborne. He can’t help feeling a little relived at that, he’s always loved flying. Somehow it feels easier to breathe. Even inside the space utterly devoid of air.

From that distance above ground he can see a lot farther; still, he feels like it would be useful to go higher, but he doesn’t think he’ll be able to. The dream will not allow. He feels it, the odd type of pressure amidst complete absence of wind or air resistance. Flying is also strange in this place as it turns out. Even his hair doesn’t move.

Levi travels at what feels like safe height but that proves to be enough - some time later he notices a black dot in the distance and steers towards it. Once he gets closer it takes on a shape of a small lake and when he squints he notices a person standing next to the water. _Finally_. He lands shortly after.

“Hey,” he says as he approaches the figure by the water, but the stranger doesn’t speak and doesn’t move. _Fucking déjà vu_ , Levi thinks, but has to make an effort to mentally shake the uncomfortable feeling. The guy wasn’t dead in the woods, he can’t possibly be dead in here. People don’t die in dreams… usually.

“Hey,” he says again  quite a bit more impatient, but this time he’s finally standing level with the tall stranger. He didn’t look quite so big lying on the ground in the woods, but here Levi barely reaches his shoulder. Perhaps this place distorts dimensions. Still no movement. Levi swears to himself if the guy doesn’t react in the next minute he’s gonna kick him hard, or worse just leave him out here, his patience stretched too thin as it is. After what feels like an eternity the man finally turns to look at Levi with clouded blue eyes.

“Hi,” he says confused, voice deep and calm.

Levi sighs. Of course. He recognizes the glassy look instantly, should have expected that much. The guy is not actually _awake_.   

“You’re sleeping,” he states out loud and frowns. “Do you not know that? Your body is asleep in the woods and your mind is asleep in here.” What weirdo goes to dream travel and actually sleeps through it, assuming this one didn’t fall asleep in the middle of woods just for the sleep’s sake.

The guy’s thick blond eyebrows rise the tiniest a bit, and he hums to himself, wrinkles his forehead for a few moments, trying to make sense of Levi’s words, but appears to be still very much in a daze, and his words just like his gaze come out unfocused.

“I guess so…” he mumbles and returns his stare to the view in front of him, the conversation not making him any more awake or present.

Levi frowns. Interacting with people who are actually asleep is always strange. They seem more like ghosts than actual people, only part of them is present while most of their mind is consumed by the dream. It makes the whole thing even more creepy. He’s getting tired of this.

“I’m gonna wake you up, okay?” He says and only half expects the ghost guy to respond. Rude or not he’s already decided he’s waking them both up. Not just here, but in the real world too - this place is too weird, too dead, too empty. He’s seen enough of this to make notes and doesn’t wanna stay.

“Okay,” the figure nods slowly.

“Okay,” Levi echoes and looks at the lonely rocks and desert behind them one last time. “What were you doing here anyway?” He’s not sure why he’s asking but the question comes out before he can stop it. This place is definitely not a good dream.

The guy tilts his head and frowns as though trying to remember the answer that doesn’t come easy to him, stares at the lake in front of him for a few moments and finally says quietly with the same absent look on his face,

“I came here to drink, but the water is all _salt_ so I couldn’t...”

Levi shivers. The man’s words are followed by the same eerie silence that surrounds this place. He turns to the lake in front of them, kneels and scoops a handful, but instead of what he thought looked like water from the distance he finds tiny little crystals shining in the light of the nonexistent sun. He swallows uncomfortably, his own throat strangely dry. Time to get out.

“You can drink when you wake, okay?” He says and maneuvers himself to stay in front of his strange dream companion, heels sinking into salty slush.

The guy nods slowly.

“What’s your name?” Levi asks and places his hands on the man’s shoulders.

“Erwin,” the man responds and is too tall for Levi to comfortably reach, but he doesn’t stop anyway.

“Alright Erwin,” Levi locks his eyes with the stranger and gives him a good stare from underneath his furrowed eyebrows. “This is gonna be weird but I’m gonna shake you awake on three. Got it?” He doesn’t wait for the answer.

_One, Two, -_

 

Levi inhales and blinks awake. The woods and chilling air greet him back to the waking world. He cracks his neck, relived. Next to him a body stirs. The stranger, Erwin, grunts, props himself up, opens his eyes, and finally notices Levi sitting beside him. Levi levels a stare at him.

“Sleep well?”

Erwin blinks and freezes.

“Not particularly, no,” he manages, voice scratchy, and stares back at Levi for a few short seconds unmoving. A small sign of recognition passes across his face. “You look familiar. Did I just.. see you? In there?” He asks and points up, presumably in the direction of the dream.

No shit. Levi has to resist the temptation to roll his eyes.

“Yeah,” he deadpans. “I woke you.”

“Oh…” Erwin says and scratches his head in confusion, trying to remember. “Thanks,” he adds and a small leaf falls from his hair. The memory doesn’t seem to come. Levi’s patience wanes.

“Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? I thought you were dead.” Erwin’s eyes widen in surprise. “I tried to wake you up multiple times and you wouldn’t even move. What the fuck?”

“You did?”

“Yes. I thought you were a fucking dead corpse in the woods.”

“Sorry about that,” Erwin says earnestly, “must have been Benadryl I took. I had trouble falling asleep.”

Levi can’t believe what he just heard. Is the guy being serious?

“That’s incredibly dangerous, not to mention utterly stupid,” he states tone flat.

Erwin looks at him with his big blue eyes slightly wide, startled by Levi’s straightforwardness and lack of polite overtures.  To his own surprise Levi feels like he needs to follow up with an explanation. “It’s dangerous like that. You could have been bitten by a snake or something,” he manages with a frown. Erwin chuckles.

“I don’t think there are any on this island,” he points out with enough conviction that Levi is pretty sure the guy actually researched. A warm smile that follows makes it worse.

_‘It’s a fucking metaphor’_ Levi wants to fire back as a sudden wave of embarrassment threatens to make an uninvited appearance on his skin. He can think of a hundred different reasons not to knock oneself out cold with drugs in the middle of the woods, but before he can say anything Erwin’s face turns serious and Levi is surprised.

“Honestly, thanks for waking me up,” he says and directs his stare towards the mossy ground below them. “I think I was stuck in there for quite some time…”

Levi frowns. Something heavy passes between them, just below the surface, flickers in the bottoms of Erwin’s eyes, and Levi doesn’t know what to think of it, this quiet stillness, unsure if he should say anything or if it’s something he wasn’t meant to see at all… Levi studies the lines of Erwin’s face for some sort of direction, but before he can acknowledge it out loud the moment is gone.

Levi huffs.

“…That’s what happens when you get all drugged up.”

Erwin shakes his head.

“It was just a couple of Benadryl,” he says and a small teasing smile returns to the corners of his mouth.

“Is what they all say. Is this your first time or something?”

“Yeah, actually.”

Levi sighs, not surprised.

“It shows. Taking sleep medicine is one of the worst things you can do. Makes your mind foggy and harder to wake up, not just here but in there too. That’s one of the first things they usually teach.”

“Didn’t know that.”

“Figures, you were totally out of it. Like a freaking zombie.”

Erwin huffs a small laugh.

What was the guy even thinking passing out in the middle of the woods from a bunch of allergy medications? No wonder Levi couldn’t wake him.   

“You seem to be pretty knowledgeable about this.”

“Hm? Unlike you I came prepared,” Levi declares with the air of total obviousness. Erwin hums an acknowledgment.

“Been doing it for a while?”

“Yeah, part of the job.”

Erwin tilts his head.

“You collect?”

Levi nods.

“And sell.”

Erwin’s eyes light up. He straightens from his odd half crouching position to sit and faces Levi properly.

“Perhaps you can help me then.”

“Help you with what?” Levi asks tone flat. The guy is invading his personal space. Three feet between was never enough to begin with.

“I’m looking for something that’s on this island - a dream.” Levi raises a questioning eyebrow, waits for Erwin to continue. “Considering my lack of experience and training, it might take me a while to locate it on my own. Maybe you can teach me and help me find it.”

Levi narrows his eyes.

“I only just got here myself, so I won’t be able to help you with any prior knowledge of this area… Are you even sure it’s here, on this island?” He hasn’t heard of any research being done here before, so it must have been a hobbyist or word-of-mouth.

“Yes, absolutely,” Erwin responds, tone a little too serious. “It _has_ to be here.”

“Hmm…” Levi takes a moment to consider.

“So, what do you think? Do you accept? I can pay you very -”

“No,” Levi cuts him off.

“No?” Erwin nearly flinches, completely taken aback.

“No, that’s not,” Levi shakes his head to clarify quickly, “that’s not what I mean. You don’t need to pay me _very_ well. I won’t charge you more than I usually do just because you’re some drugged idiot in the middle of the woods.”

“Oh.” Erwin blinks as the meaning of Levi’s response dawns on him. “That’s very noble of you.”

Levi rolls his eyes.

It’s not like he hasn’t taught before and he is on this island for research anyway, but this guy will probably be a handful, not to mention completely inexperienced, and doing dives with someone else often changes the storyline of the dream to accommodate multiple minds. On the other hand, the island is mainly a wedding destination, so it’s reasonable to expect that if he sells anything here people will most likely be diving in groups. So as long as dragging this guy around doesn’t cause too much of a delay in his research…

“Here.” He reaches inside his backpack and retrieves a stack of papers wrapped protectively in plastic, opens the zip lock and pulls out one leaflet. “My prices are in the brochure. Read through and pick if you wanna do basic training or more advanced.” 

Erwin scans the brochure and pauses to stare at the bottom right corner.

“What?”

“Nice, um, design work, Levi,” he says and there’s a definite hint of amusement in his voice. Levi crosses his arms indignant.

“Helps with business.”

His best friend and constant pestering annoyance in his life, Hanji, were rather invested in that. They insisted that all business should feel personal and that good marketing materials with the owner’s inviting picture up front have been scientifically proven to increase sales manyfold. After three exhausting hours of photoshoots that felt more like a lifetime in hell Levi finally gave in and did a salesman _smile_ , as best he could… 

In the end, he had to acknowledge that Hanji were right though, and sales for Levi’s Dream Delivery Service did increase significantly after that.

“Also, here,” he says and reaches inside his backpack one more time to retrieve a small black travel mug. “You said you were thirsty.” Erwin looks at him surprised but accepts, realizing that it must have been part of their dream conversation that he still doesn’t remember.

“…Thanks. I _am_ actually,” he acknowledges and twists the lead off.

“It’s tea though, I don’t have any water,” Levi warns, but Erwin shakes his hand and takes a gulp.

“That’s no problem, I quite like tea. Thank you.”

At that they leave the dream area behind and make their way back to the trail.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

The bed is soft and cold ocean air seeps through the open crack of the window. Levi takes his eyes off the dark ceiling, tosses, hides his freezing nose inside the folds of the comforter, closes his eyes again. Sleep doesn’t return.

He sits up, a shiver runs down the exposed nape of his neck. He rakes a hand through his choppy hair and checks his watch – still too early for the day to start, but it won’t stay dark for long. He retrieves one of his unpacked sweatshirts, slipping it off the hanger, and by the time he puts on his running shoes the first pale blue of dawn starts creeping up the sky.

He runs along the coastal road that he has all to himself save for billows of fog coming off the ocean. Sandy beach to his right, also completely abandoned at this hour, gradually changes into a rocky terrain as he moves further and further away from the inn. He doesn’t stop and turn around until the timer on his watch beeps 30 minutes, just past the turn where he can finally see the outline of the city, island’s capital. It’s still ways away and he has to turn back. He agreed to meet Erwin at breakfast and start the training right after. The inn keeper mentioned there was one more guest that was staying with them when Levi checked in yesterday morning. That person turned out to be Erwin, the guy he found passed out in the woods, his new client.

When he reaches the inn, it is still quiet. He checks his watch and snorts, 12 miles round trip in an hour is not bad. He has plenty of time to take a shower and change.

 

The dining area is set up with a couple of small round tables and a big communal one. It must have been a formal dining room before the house was converted into an inn however many years ago. Levi shows up early, carrying a small tea canister, and makes use of the kettle.

Erwin appears a few minutes later accompanied by Petra, the inn keeper’s daughter, who is chatting animatedly about some history of the place. Erwin gives a charming smile and seems to want to know more.

Petra beams hello at Levi and asks them both how they like their eggs, Levi wants scrambled and Erwin asks for “sunny side if it’s not too much trouble”.

“Not at all,” Petra replies and shows Erwin which button to press on the espresso machine before disappearing inside the kitchen.

"It's nice to have a home-cooked breakfast while travelling," Erwin says and takes a spot at the big table opposite Levi.

“Yeah, hope it’s not bad.”

“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s better than the regular hotel food.” He sounds like an unfortunate soul that has had to order too many room services before.

“It’s kinda difficult to ruin eggs,” Levi points out, impassive, and that gets a chuckle out of Erwin.

“Hotels do all the time though. Must be a special talent.”

Levi snorts. He won’t deny, he’s tasted his share of cardboard.

“You travel a lot?”

“Used to,” Erwin says and sips his coffee, black. “For work.”

“Hm.”

“I really shouldn’t be complaining,” he says and stares at the bitter liquid in his cup. “I always stayed at high-end places.”

“And they still messed up food?” Levi asks, unimpressed.

“Yeah, they totally did,” Erwin nods and smiles wistful. “Nothing can replace home.”

“Is that why you don’t stay at fancy hotels anymore?”

“No,” he shakes his head and pauses, as though caught off guard. When he continues the corners of his eyes are serious. “I quit.”

Levi frowns, surprised at the sudden admission. There are many things about this guy that don’t quite seem to fall in place. He opens his mouth to ask why, but before he can utter a word Petra reappears from the kitchen with a big rolling tray.

 

“The eggs are good,” Levi admits.

“Aren’t they?” Petra is quite excited. “They come from the neighbor farm up north, chickens are super happy, run free, eat grass and all that stuff.”

With eggs there’s also toast and a bowl of fresh fruit with some greens, everything neatly cut and arranged. The silverware appears to be polished too, and Levi feels a lot more enthusiastic about complimentary breakfast than he did earlier this morning. He works on his food while Erwin and Petra continue their earlier conversation about the inn.

“Are you really keeping this place open just for the two of us?”

“Yeah,” Petra nods and smiles. “I know it sounds strange and not very efficient, but we want to welcome visitors at all times of the year, not just the wedding season. It took a long time to rebuild the island after the disaster ten years ago and for people to start coming back, so to us it’s worth it,” she says with a hint of a sad, proud smile – whatever happened here must have been very difficult Levi realizes. Petra doesn’t seem to stay affected for too long though, flicks her head as though to shake it off and adds with a mischievous grin, “but it _is_ mainly a wedding spot, so if you ever need a place,” she winks at both of them conspiratorially, “you know what I mean!”

Levi doesn’t, but is relieved from the necessity to respond before it gets awkward by Erwin’s somewhat sheepish but mostly cheerful sounding “Thanks, Petra, will keep that in mind.”

He doesn’t chance a look at Erwin’s face and turns his attention to a piece of pineapple instead.

He is quite aware of the inn mostly catering towards couples though, having been greeted with a fluffy embroidered “Welcome Lovers” pillow on his bed upon arrival. The out-of-place object was removed promptly the same day, followed by Petra’s embarrassed ‘sorry ‘bout that’, but he didn’t really care. He chose this island for research because it is a wedding destination, and it is getting quite popular, so there’s definitely some potential here to sell dreams to travelling couples.

He tries to help with the dishes after breakfast, it feels weird not to, but Petra is quite insistent on guests remaining guests so he quickly swings by his room, grabs his backpack, and they head out following the trail up northeast.

 

“I think my dream tracker is broken,” Erwin says.

“Let me see,” Levi extends his hand to look at the thing. It turns out to be one of the more recent, expensive models.

“It’s intact,” he says after a few minutes of examining the machine, “but your settings are all messed up.”

“Are they?” Erwin frowns.

“Yeah, top models are rather complex,” Levi shrugs. “It’s actually less useful if you don’t know how to operate it. Simple consumer versions don’t sense everything, but you won’t get lost.”

“I didn’t know that,” Erwin admits and hides the gadget in the pocket of his jacket for the time being. 

“It’s a miracle you even found a dream with that thing.”

“You are very optimistic, Levi,” Erwin says with a smile and Levi feels an urge to divert his eyes to stare ahead as opposed to at Erwin’s face.

“Yeah, I did take you on, didn’t I?” he mutters in response.

“Fair enough,” Erwin sounds amused beside him.

“I’ll show you how to program it properly later, it’s not important now.”

They walk for about twenty minutes before Levi spots the first dream.

 

The dream area is quite accommodating this time, and they pick a spot under a tree in the middle of the grassy field. Levi rolls out his cushion and Erwin his – he’s more prepared this time.

“Did you bring something to write with?”

“Yeah, there was a notepad in the room.”

“That will do. It’s important to write them down, trains your memory, helps you stay focused.”

“Okay,” Erwin nods and puts the notepad next to him.

“Close your eyes.” Levi orders and Erwin does, sitting opposite of him cross-legged. A quiet moment passes, the wind sways stems of tall golden grass gently. Levi relaxes his shoulders, rolls his head and exhales slowly, watches Erwin’s face from a couple of feet away. Neatly combed hair, corners of the mouth serious, a slight wrinkle between eyebrows. “What are you doing?”

“Hm?” Erwin blinks confused. “…Concentrating.”

“On what?”

“Falling asleep.”

Levi snorts.

“And has that ever worked for you?”

“Not really, no,” Erwin admits not without a sense of self-irony. Levi sighs.

“Rule number one: let go, stop thinking. Concentrating on any particular thing is not gonna work. It will only keep you awake.”

By the look on his face Levi suspects Erwin is not the kind of person that letting go and not thinking comes easy to, but if he wants to do this he’s gonna have to learn. “I’m going to teach you a breathing technique that will help you relax and put your body to sleep, but there are a few things you need to know before we start. Do you know what sleep paralysis is?”

“I’ve heard of it,” Erwin says eyebrows furrowed.

Teaching Erwin to fall asleep is only half the task. For most people, it’s easy to do that and surrender to the dream, let the story merge with your mind and take over. Levi could even go find and wake Erwin’s mind inside the dreamscape, while keeping his body peacefully asleep in the outer world. However, Erwin asked to teach him how to be awake inside the dream without anyone’s help and that requires staying fully conscious the entire time the physical body is asleep, a process that requires a bit of practice and has a few unfortunate side effects, sleep paralysis being one of them.

“It’s likely to happen on your first few tries if you actually succeed at keeping your mind awake. If you get stuck in it good news is you’re halfway into the dream, bad is that you don’t know that you are and you panic.”

“How can I not know?” Erwin asks confused.

“You don’t know, that’s just how it is,” Levi shrugs. “It’s weird if you’re not used to it. Your mind gets confused and feels trapped. There are also hallucinations.” Erwin frowns at the mention of that, but Levi continues, there’s nothing one can do to prevent it. Human mind is a complicated place. “The key is to remember that it’s not real and snap out of it.”

“Okay,” Erwin nods slowly, appearing deep in thought.

“If you get stuck really bad do you want me to wake you?”

“No,” he says almost immediately. Levi expects the answer, but it’s his job to ask anyway.

“Okay,” he says. They are just gonna go for it.

Levi can’t help feeling uneasy about that, maybe he should give a better warning. No matter how experienced you are or how many times you’ve done it, whenever it happens the first instinct is always fear. And hallucinations that happen during sleep paralysis are almost always awful, rarely is there a pleasant one. Once the line between wake world and dream is blurred and the door to the subconscious is open human mind tends to create all kinds of terrifying concoctions. He’s gonna have to make an on the spot decision if it comes to that, regardless of what Erwin asked. The guy might be unreasonably stubborn and potentially reckless, judging by his last attempt in the woods, but sleep paralysis is not something worth being stuck in for long periods of time.

 

Levi explains the 4-7-8 technique to Erwin, and Erwin seems somewhat skeptical at first, but decides to give it a shot.

“It’s a form of self-hypnosis, isn’t it?” Erwin asks after Levi’s finished with basic instructions.

“You can call it that,” Levi shrugs. “The main thing is to let your body go through the motions, like you’re just watching it, get it to go with the rhythm, but keep your mind separate. Got it?”

Erwin frowns, trying to make sense of his explanation.

“You mean… like I’m an outside observer? Instead of the one performing the actions?”

“Yeah,” Levi nods. That’s not a bad way to put it. They might have a chance at succeeding today after all. “Just don’t overthink,” Levi adds after seeing Erwin’s serious face mulling the idea over for a few long seconds. Erwin nods in agreement.

It doesn’t take him that long to grasp it, at least the falling asleep part. When he actually tries, Levi watches his face relax, shoulders sag and consciousness fade within mere couple of minutes of practice. The easy part is done. Another minute later Levi follows him into sleep – time to check how good of a student Erwin is.

It’s a familiar routine, one Levi’s done for many years. He doesn’t even need to think anymore. Counting comes easy and the steady rhythm numbs his alertness and soothes the ever-present hum in his brain. Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8; breathe in, hold, exhale; breathe in, hold, exhale; breathe. If only it was that easy when he actually tries to _fall asleep_ …

 

“Shit,” he curses as he gets jostled unceremoniously by an oncoming crowd almost immediately upon arrival. Although ‘crowd’ might actually be an understatement for what feels more like an endless sea of people flooding from all sides. He has to try hard just to avoid being swept. Finding Erwin here will be a pain. He grabs a random guy closest to him by the elbow.

“Hey, what is this? Where’s everyone going?”

The guy looks at him like he just dropped off the moon.

“The game, man! World series! What rock have you been under?”

Great. Can’t this one be a peaceful walk in the garden for convenience’s sake? He really couldn’t care less about baseball and now he needs to find Erwin in this mess somehow.

The crowd keeps pushing past him in what he assumes is the direction of the stadium. He looks around, but none of the faces are the one he’s looking for. He tries to stand on tiptoes. _Why does everyone in this dream have to be so tall?_ he wonders, annoyed, and then he sees it, the spot where crowd parts, where the movement is not uniform, as though people are trying to avoid an obstacle. He pushes his way towards it. If Erwin has made it but his mind is stuck halfway he will definitely stand out, but if he didn’t manage to keep his mind separate and fell fully asleep he’ll be probably following the crowd to the stadium like a passive spectator, and Levi will just have to wake him outside of the dream. He doesn’t really consider the possibility of Erwin’s mind being fully awake all on his own. He’s not that optimistic. He can’t help feeling an unexpected tinge of pride however when he finally spots the blond head in the sea of people, but it doesn’t last long. He finds Erwin kneeling on the ground, face twisted in agony.

“Shit. Erwin!” He pushes the few remaining dream people between them out of his way. Erwin is hyperventilating, eyes blown wide. Levi tries to shake him, but it has no effect. Erwin is thoroughly stuck in sleep paralysis. Levi bites his lip. There’s never been a proven way to bring the person out of it. Erwin either wakes himself up or Levi will have to wake him on the other side. There’s no other option. Levi knows he said he wouldn’t forcefully do that, but there’s only so long he’s willing to watch someone suffer for, even if it’s not real, even if it’s all mind tricks. The face contorted with pain is real.

“Erwin, come down,” he tries. “You’re already here. You almost made it, just let go.” That doesn’t produce any reaction. “Fuck. Erwin, come on,” Levi tries again but the man crouching in front of him is still wide-eyed and struggling to breathe. Levi clenches his fists. “At this rate, I’m gonna have to wake you. You hear me? This is gonna be a wasted effort.” Erwin still doesn’t respond. “You want to do this, right? You want to find that dream you’re looking for, so come on, wake up. Prove to me that you can do it.” Levi grabs the collar of Erwin’s jacket and shakes him slightly, but neither that nor his words seem to reach. He exhales, there’s nothing left to do. “You did good for your first try. I’m gonna wake you now.” Levi stands, preparing to exit, closes his eyes, takes a breath –

“Wait,” the voice that comes out is raspy, sounds pushed out with exhausted effort, but it is unmistakably Erwin’s. Levi’s eyes snap open, he kneels in front of him. They are alone in the street, the crowd seemed to have all passed and must be filling up the stadium by now.

“Thanks for waiting for me,” Erwin says, trying to gain control of his voice. “That was a something.” He seems shaken.

“Did you see anything?” Levi asks curious. Paralysis hallucinations can be truly terrifying.

“Yeah,” Erwin exhales and rubs his eyes. “A figure, dark, big… It was… trying to eat me,” he says, struggling to both remember and forget what it felt like. “It was running towards me… but I couldn’t move.”

Levi nods. That’s a common theme in hallucinations – a dark figure, fear, inability to do anything about it. He gets up and pats the dust off his knees. Erwin follows a few seconds later.

“What’s this?” He asks, taking in the surroundings for the first time.

“Baseball game,” Levi mumbles disinterested. “World series or something.”

Erwin’s eyes go wide.

“What, you serious?!”

“Yeah, some guy told me when I was looking for you,” Levi says, still not particularly inspired.

“Levi, we have to go see it!” Erwin declares right then and Levi knows there’s no chance of getting out of it. He never took Erwin for a baseball fan, and a big one at that.

Levi sighs. He is here for exploration and they’ve already spent much time in this dream. Might as well go see the game.

 

“Wow! That’s my team!” Erwin says enthusiastically as they take their seats. “Look, they are winning!”  This must be a dream where your team gets to play in the World Series Levi realizes.

“Seriously? Yankees?” He is not impressed with Erwin’s choice.

“What’s wrong with Yankees, Levi?” Erwin asks, only somewhat offended.

Levi grunts. Where does he even begin to explain? Not like he cares about baseball of course…

They watch the game and Levi has to admit this dream design is one of the better ones he’s seen. Everything is very detailed and animated, the players, the fans, the stadium itself. The game is close too, and is as exciting as the most boring sport in the world can possibly get, judging by Erwin’s reaction to it. This will be a great one to sell.

“That’s a… really beautiful horse,” Erwin says all of a sudden, sounding quite fascinated.

“Huh?” Levi utters surprised. “What horse?”

He scans the field curiously for a few seconds until it dawns on him. To his side Erwin is glass-eyed and spacey. “Erwin, you’re drifting. Wake up,” Levi tells him and, when it fails to properly grab his attention, jabs him. That does the trick.

“Oh,” Erwin blinks and shakes awake. “Sorry,” he mumbles, a little disoriented. “What did just happen?”

This is quite the usual occurrence for new dream learners and Levi expects that.

“It’s hard to keep you mind focused at first. It falls asleep out of habit and starts making shit up,” he explains.

It’s normal for the mind to drift and supply some pieces of the dream plot. If anything, it makes the dream more interesting and personal, albeit bizarre at times. The horse must mean something to Erwin if it showed up for him in the middle of the baseball stadium. Probably some memory or subconscious association Levi guesses. Erwin makes a mental note of his explanation and diligently turns to concentrate on the game in front of them. Luckily, there’s a lot of stuff to keep his attention, the game gets quite a bit intense after that. Even Levi gets pulled into it a little, although he mostly ends up keeping eyes on Erwin, in case he drifts again.

As expected, in the end the Yankees win and the mysterious horse does not return.

 

“That was so good!” Erwin says and leans over to shake Levi’s shoulder enthusiastically when they wake up. “Did you see that?! That homerun was unbelievable!”

Levi blinks, unsure of what to say. He never got why people like baseball, but it’s the first time he’s seen Erwin smile like that.

“Yeah, that was good I guess,” he mutters, suddenly aware of the hand on his shoulder and Erwin’s general proximity to his personal space. “You should write it down,” he suggests, “before you forget the details.” The warmth seeps through the fabric of his sweater.

“Yeah, I definitely should!” Erwin says excited and turns to look for his notepad. Levi retrieves his own journal. Erwin’s hand slides off his shoulder and they both get busy scribbling.  

“I used to go with my dad sometimes, when I was a kid,” Erwin says unexpectedly while Levi is still writing. “…Although nothing like World Series of course, we couldn’t afford something like that,” he adds, but by the tone of his voice those games were no less important to him. Levi listens quietly. He doesn’t have memories like that of his own to share, although his uncle did take him fishing once when he was little. He’s not sure if that counts. It took a long time to set up and wait. The fish he caught in the end was tiny. _Must be a baby fish_ , Levi thought. They couldn’t eat it so he decided to bury it in the woods surrounding the river. When he was found two days later his mom was crying so much he never touched fish again. Erwin seems happy about the childhood memory the baseball dream brought back, so Levi keeps his to himself. However enjoyable, Levi realizes, this dream must be not one Erwin’s looking for because he wants to keep going.

 

They do one more dream dive after that, and Levi is pleasantly surprised at Erwin’s progress, although he won’t say. This next one does turn out to be a walk in the garden, with an old stone fountain and blooming purple lilacs. It’s quite peaceful. Levi unexpectedly finds himself lingering.  Erwin insists they try one more before wrapping things up for the day, but Levi declines.

“You will be tired, trust me,” he says. Levi himself could definitely keep going for a couple more, but Erwin is not ready.

“Why? Levi, we’ve been _sleeping_ all day,” Erwin points out and laughs incredulous.

“It’s not the same. Your body is asleep, but your mind is concentrating, so it doesn’t rest,” he explains, but Erwin still doesn’t look convinced. “I promise you, you _will_ pass out the moment your head hits the pillow.” Most normal people do anyway. He can bet on that _and_ win.

He rolls up his cushion, stuffs it into his backpack, and they head back to the inn with a promise that they’ll do more once Erwin’s had enough practice and develops mental stamina for more extensive diving.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm with Levi on baseball...

**Author's Note:**

> challenging myself to a multi chapter... Bring it on! :D  
> with thanks to my friend who suggested the idea that dreams could be actual physical places with access points


End file.
